Article V, Section C, Item 5: Mid-Year Eligibility & 9-Hour Rule
Definition of an Entering Freshman, V.B.5 :
A student who upon becoming identified with an NAIA institution has not been previously identified with any institution(s) of higher learning for any two semesters or three quarters (or the equivalent).
V.C.5.a (Nine-Hour Rule)
An entering freshman who satisfies initial eligibility requirements in Bylaws Article V, Section C, Item 2 must have accumulated a minimum of nine institutional credit hours prior to identification for the second term of attendance.
Only those institutional credit hours earned after identification (at any institution) may be applied toward meeting the Nine-Hour Rule for a second-term freshman.
V.C.5.b. (Gaining Eligibility Mid-Year)
An entering freshman who satisfies one of the initial eligibility requirements found in Bylaws Article V, Section C, Item 2 can gain eligibility in a subsequent term if the student passed 12 institutional credit hours with a grade of “C” or better during the first term of attendance at the certifying NAIA institution.
For purposes of this rule, the NAIA does not recognize a +/- attached to a letter grade. Consequently, a C+, C, and C- shall count as a C.
Nine-Hour Rule — Summer Attendance Prior to Initial Identification
Approved Ruling: A student who enters college for the first time in the summer and then enrolls for the fall term, may not apply summer credit hours to meet the Nine-Hour Rule. Summer attendance does not identify a student with an institution. The hours earned in the summer cannot count toward the Nine-Hour Rule because they occur prior to the student’s initial identification.
Passing Grade – Mid Year Eligibility
Approved Ruling: A grade of a “P” may be used in lieu of a C to gain mid-year eligibility if the official transcript or academic catalogue specifically states that a grade of a P equates to a grade of a C in the grading rubric.
Mid-Year Eligibility Opportunity
To utilize the mid-year eligibility opportunity a student must do two things. First, they must have met one of the three initial eligibility requirements (GPA, class rank, or ACT/SAT test score). Note that a GED or HiSET test may be used in place of earning a 2.00 high school GPA.
Second, they must pass 12 institutional credit hours with a grade of “C” or better during their first term of attendance at the certifying NAIA institution. The student must earn a “C” or better in each class, it cannot be an average of all classes. To make this point even clearer, there is no GPA requirement for the 12 institutional credit hours. Below are case studies where we will drive home some of the nuances of the bylaw amendment.
FAQ’s for Establishing Eligibility Mid-Year
Q1: Does the student have to meet the initial eligibility criteria (i.e. 1-of-3) prior to identification? What happens if a student takes the ACT/SAT during the fall term?
A: No, there is no requirement that the 1-of-3 criterion (found in Bylaws Article V, Section C, Item 2) be met prior to the student’s initial identification. A student could take the ACT or SAT test in the first term, and use this test score to satisfy the 1-of-3 piece of the proposal. In addition, the student would also have to earn 12 hours in that fall term.
Q2: Does a student need a specific GPA to utilize the exception?
A: No. The requirement is that the student must earn 12 hours with a grade of “C” or better. There is no GPA requirement because a student’s performance in any additional hours the student decides to take should not impact his or her ability to satisfy the exception.
Q3: What if a freshman student gets a C in three courses (nine institutional credit hours) at my NAIA school, and a C in one course (three institutional credit hours) at another institution during his first term of attendance. Can he use this exception?
A: Yes. Per NAIA rules, a student who takes nine institutional credit hours at an NAIA school and three institutional credit hours elsewhere in the same term will be considered a term of attendance at the NAIA institution. The legislation simply requires 12 hours need to be earned with a C, but does not require all 12 hours be earned from the NAIA institution.
Q4: Does a student have to maintain continuous identification to use the exception?
A: No. However, a student does have to have earned all 12 institutional credit hours during their first term of attendance. Non-term hours cannot be included to satisfy the 12 hours needed.
Q5: How does this work if a student initially identifies after the fall term (i.e., a student’s first term is the spring semester)? Can the student use this exception?
A: Yes. If a student’s first term of attendance is the spring semester, the student could gain eligibility to compete the subsequent fall semester by earning 12 institutional credit hours with a grade of C during the spring semester, and also satisfying one of the initial eligibility criteria.
Q6: For quarter schools, if a student wishes to compete in a spring sport, do the 12 hours have to be earned in the fall quarter, or in the winter quarter, or a combination of the two?
A: The bylaw requires that the hours must be earned in the student’s first term of attendance. If the student identifies in the fall, that means the 12 hours must have been earned in the fall, regardless of whether the student will compete in the winter quarter or in the spring quarter. The rule turns on the student’s first term of attendance, not the term prior to competition.
Q7: If I transfer after the fall term, can I use this exception at a different NAIA institution from where I went in the fall?
A: No. The bylaw requires that the hours must have been earned at the certifying NAIA institution.
Case Studies
*Assume all schools are NAIA institutions unless otherwise noted.
Scenario 1:
Kevin received an ineligible determination from the eligibility center on July 1, 2019. He was ineligible because he only met one (GPA) of the initial eligibility requirements. Kevin enrolls in 12 institutional credit hours in the fall at a local junior college and gets a “B” in all of his classes. Kevin is now transferring to an NAIA institution for the spring of 2020, will he be eligible in the spring of 2020?
Answer 1:
No! In order to utilize the mid-year eligibility opportunity, he must have taken and passed with a “C” the 12 institutional credit hours at the NAIA institution that is certifying him for the spring of 2020. Since he took these classes at a junior college, he would not be meet this bylaw and would be ineligible for the spring.
Scenario 2:
Kiko received an ineligible decision in the summer of 2019 because he did not meet any of the three initial eligibility requirements. He enrolls at his NAIA institution in the fall of 2019, and also takes the ACT again in September of 2019, after classes have started. Kiko receives a 20 on the ACT and gets straight “As” in his classes. Will Kiko be eligible for the spring of 2020, and if so, does he need to get an updated decision from the eligibility center?
Answer 2:
Kiko would be eligible to compete in the spring of 2020 since he would now meet Article V, Section C, Item 5, Part b. There is nothing in the bylaw that would prohibit Kiko from taking the ACT again in the fall after classes have started, so he can utilize that qualifying test score to meet the first part of the bylaw. He would clearly meet the second part of the bylaw by getting straight “As” in his 12 institutional credit hours at the certifying NAIA institution.
Kiko would have to get an updated determination from the eligibility center in order to be certified to compete in the spring of 2020.
Scenario 3:
Quinn graduated from her high school in December of 2018 and went to an NAIA school in the spring of 2019. Quinn’s Irish high school does not calculate GPA or class rank but Quinn earned a 1,300 on the SAT. Quinn takes and passes 12 institutional credit hours in the spring of 2019 with “As” and “Bs”. Quinn never received a determination from the eligibility center prior to attending her NAIA school. Will Quinn meet the mid-year eligibility opportunity even though she didn’t receive an ineligible decision from the eligibility center and despite the fact her first term of attendance was in the spring?
Answer 3:
Yes! First, the bylaw does not require that a student first receive an ineligible decision to utilize the opportunity, and second, the bylaw clearly states that the hours must be earned in the first term of attendance not specifically in the fall. Therefore, Quinn would meet the opportunity and would need to get a determination from the eligibility center before she could be certified to compete in the fall of 2019.
Scenario 4:
Piper only meets the GPA requirement prior to the fall of 2019 and thus receives an ineligible determination from the eligibility center. In order to save money, Piper enrolls part time in the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2020. She passes 15 institutional credit hours between these two part-time terms with grades of “C” or better. Can Piper utilize the opportunity found in the bylaw to be eligible to compete in the fall of 2020?
Answer 4:
No! The 12 institutional credit hours must be earned during the first term of attendance. Here Piper has not identified with her NAIA institution and thus has not used a term of attendance. She cannot piece together hours from part-time terms to help her meet this bylaw. She would not meet this bylaw going into the fall of 2020.
Scenario 5:
Herc is an entering freshman in the fall of 2019 and currently only meets the initial eligibility GPA requirement. Herc enrolls in 15 institutional credit hours at his NAIA school in the fall of 2019. Herc earns the following grades in each of his three credit hour classes: C-, C+, F, B, and C- and his GPA is a 1.900. Will Herc meet the mid-year eligibility opportunity heading into the 2020 spring semester?
Answer 5:
Yes! Herc received a “C” or better in 12 institutional credit hours in his first term of attendance. For the purposes of this rule, a C- or C+ is still considered a C. Additionally, we do not care about his GPA nor do we care that he failed one of his classes since he has 12 institutional credit hours of “C” or better.
